Marin congressman calls SF State ‘conniving’ as talks fail on Tiburon salmon program

Congressman rips SF State for ‘dishonesty’ as program’s eviction proceeds

By
Nels Johnson, Marin Independent Journal

Monday, November 16, 2015

San Francisco State University, in what a furious U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman called a deliberate betrayal of Marin County, has ended negotiations and renewed its eviction of a popular salmon conservation program from its home of four decades at the Romberg Tiburon Center.

The move has left the Tiburon Salmon Institute seeking new bayside quarters amid university demands it leave by next September — and halt events including a children’s educational program in the meantime.

Top officials including university president Leslie Wong and Romberg CEO Karina Nielsen did not return calls for comment, but Robert Nava, a university vice president in charge of fundraising, said San Francisco State made a good-faith effort to reach an accord.

Failure to reach agreement on issues involving a lease with tenant protections as sought by the institute, or a license with fewer legal implications, as sought by the university, were among a number of factors at issue, Nava said, citing public safety, permit and related concerns.

“We did our best to find common ground, but were not able to reach what we needed to come to an agreement,” Nava said. He said the institute, initially given a month to vacate, now has a year.

But Huffman, whose staff hosted the negotiations, excoriated university officials for what he said was a bad faith “rope-a-dope” negotiating sham aimed at calming the public uproar and media attention that erupted late last spring amid news the institute was getting kicked out.

Huffman said university officials employed a “deliberate, brazen” strategy of duplicity in which “there was never any intention to work out a solution” with the Tiburon salmon program.

“I can only describe the actions of the Romberg Center director, and her accomplices in the San Francisco State University administration, as conniving and dishonest,” Huffman reported in a fiery email.

“San Francisco State University has huge leadership and personnel problems and has betrayed our community and broken its promises to deal with Tiburon Salmon Institute in good faith,” the San Rafael Democrat said. He added Marin philanthropists should keep checkbooks zipped when the university comes calling.

“Until there is a change of leadership at Romberg and San Francisco State University, no one in Marin should give them a dime,” Huffman advised.

“We’re very appreciative of all the support we’ve received from Marin over the years,” said Nava, the university fundraising executive.

Nava fell silent when asked to respond to other harsh criticism by Huffman, repeating his contention that the university acted in good faith, at all times.

‘Heart wrenching’

Brooke Halsey, the Tiburon lawyer who runs the salmon institute, was devastated as events unfolded this fall, saying the future is uncertain for the salmon smolt program, a fixture at rearing pens anchored at the center’s docks for more than 40 years, as well as the companion educational program for children provided by the institute for almost a decade.

“It’s heart wrenching,” Halsey said. “The community loses.”

Halsey said that while he wanted to create “a win-win between Tiburon Salmon Institute, the community and San Francisco State,” the university “had a different agenda” that followed the scenario outlined by Huffman. Facing a public clamor including a petition signed by more than 1,000 people protesting an abrupt eviction earlier this year, officials announced a reprieve pending talks aimed at retaining the salmon project.

The about-face followed mounting pressure from politicians including Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and state schools Superintendent Tom Torlakson, who both serve as state university regents, as well as state Sen. Mike McGuire, Huffman and a host of Marin officials including county supervisors. The university pledged to negotiate “a license to allow Tiburon Salmon Institute to remain on university property at the Romberg Tiburon Center.”

“Instead of a good-faith effort, what we got from San Francisco State University was a rope-a-dope negotiation that dragged on until all of the media attention and public scrutiny disappeared, at which point they brought the hammer down,” Huffman said.

New site sought

As a result, Halsey is seeking another bayside site at which to base the program’s salmon smolt pens, hoisting gear and related equipment, as well as supplies used by the educational program that includes an annual salmon release celebration.

Huffman, Halsey and others indicated the university has fiscal and public safety issues at Romberg Center of far greater concern than the salmon program, with the congressman citing “fancy” remodeling of residential quarters for Romberg Center director Nielsen while other buildings are left in disrepair.

Other critics cite pollution concerns that include peeling lead-based paint on old buildings and the facility’s septic system, which must accommodate as many as 180 university students, researchers and others. Nava said a system check indicated no leakage.

Rebecca Ng, the county’s deputy director of environmental health, said the center installed a new septic system in 1996 capable of handling 3,759 gallons a day. “It’s a big system,” she said.